The Hindu Business Line : BSA plans ‘no piracy’ zones

Coimbatore, March 3 Business Software Alliance (BSA) plans to increase the level of awareness on the economic benefits of reducing software piracy in India by strengthening its ties with the Government and partnering with industry bodies such as the National Association for Software and Services Companies.

‘We are also planning to have some state focused ‘no piracy zones’ in India in the second half of this year,’ its President and CEO, Mr Robert Holleyman, told Business Line.

Mr Holleyman was in India to address a session on the need to protect intellectual property in the digital age at the recent US Indian Business Council Forum in Mumbai.

Sharing his thoughts over phone, he said BSA would directly engage with the Government to draw up a joint action plan to combat software piracy. ‘Indian software piracy rate at 71 per cent is less than China’s (82 per cent), but more than double the global average of 35 per cent.

While the IDC study shows that it is coming down by a per cent or two, China has managed to bring it down by 10 points.’

Asked for the possible reason for the slow reaction from the Indian side, he said ‘the awareness about the legal risk of using pirated software is still poor in this country. The legal system slow; but the IT industry is growing at rapidly. ’

Low awareness

Would India risk losing out to China?

‘While the Government has put forth an action plan to reduce piracy levels and there is a rule that all PCs sold in China should be pre-loaded with software application systems, a lot needs to be done,’ he said and pointed out that China ratified Copy Right treaties but India was yet to do it.

‘India has a head start, is poised to emerge a knowledge driven economy, but cannot take its leadership for granted,’ Mr Holleyman said.

Sharing the findings from the Economic Impact Study (commissioned and released by BSA) conducted by the International Data Corporation (IDC), he said it suggests that the Asia region has much to gain from reductions in PC software piracy. According to the study, reducing software piracy in Asia by 10 per cent over the next 4 years could generate 4.35 lakh jobs, trigger economic growth by over $40 billion and enhance tax revenues by over $5 billion above current projections.

He added that a strong IT sector could serve as a major contributor to labour productivity and national economic growth.

This is the second time that such a study has been launched. The first was done in 2005 and BSA, in association with IDC has decided to continue this every two years. “Such studies help understand the impact of piracy, plan the road map and take proactive steps to deal with piracy-related issues,” Mr. Holleyman said.